


Training Days

by Erif_Of_Taloma



Series: Gremlin Squad [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars EU, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Contains cursing, Female Clones, Gen, Kamino, Mando'a translations in end notes, Military Training, Pre star wars: the clone wars, Squads have names and numbers, THEY'RE A THING, acually semi thought out implications of things in canon, clone trooper head canon, clone wars head canon, cursing, fight me, half the clones dont have names yet, hover text translation, including the main character, inconsistent use of Mando'a, mentions of unethical science, the training days, theres some politics going on in the background
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-03-13 06:34:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13564866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erif_Of_Taloma/pseuds/Erif_Of_Taloma
Summary: Before they were the Clone Troopers or even Shinys on a battlefield, they were all Cadets on Kamino. And every single one of them, from the most perfect trooper to the extremely lucky glitch has a story. These are the training days of Gremlin Squad.





	1. Silent Sabotage

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: OC's, swearing, random Mando'a, canon typical violence, attempts to actually think about the implications of crappy things mentioned in canon, unethical science practices, military training, liberal mixing of fanon + canon + eu/legends
> 
> Thanks to kaasknot for betaing this! You're fabulous. Mando'a translations can be seen via hovertext or in the end notes.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ordnance training does not go well for a clone trooper. At least the rest of the EOD training squad has their back. Well, everyone save the new guy. Alternatively: Words has a bad day in Ordnance training

2:30 

 

2:29

 

2:28

 

2:27  CT-18-5037 frowned at the timer as she ran her fingers through tangled mess of wires that connected the charges before her.  Two black wires, four green wires, one red wire, a yellow wire and brown wire formed an impossible snarl.  Which one was she was supposed to cut? 

 

2:20 She had already traced the black and green wires to their sources.  They were superfluous, there only to confuse.  That had narrowed down her choice to one of three: red, yellow or brown.

 

2:15  _ Deep breath.  Let it out. _  Her arm ached and she could feel the forming bruise on her hip aggravated by the pressure of her gear.  The Kaminoans must have thought that they were close to making a breakthrough in mapping her mutation otherwise they wouldn’t have been so overzealous collecting blood and marrow samples.  The more she thought about it the more she could feel the rage building.  A strange thudding echoed oddly through her bucket and it took a moment to realize that it was her heartbeat instead of anything external.  Her vision narrowed to the explosive before her as she glared at the damned thing.  She palmed the pair of wire cutters next to her, grip tightening to painful levels as she futilely attempted to ground herself.  For a moment, she contemplated just cutting any kriffing wire to get this over with.   _ No.   _ She would not do that.  She had things to prove.  CT-18-5037 forced herself to relax her grip on the wire cutters and let the breath she hadn’t been aware she had been holding out in a slow hiss.  She had to stay in active training and every time the longnecks attempted to mess with her genetics things went wrong.   _ Calm down.  Deep breath.  Let it out.  Push the pain back.  No thinking about that now.  Another breath.  Analyze what you know. _

 

2:05 The exercise was meant to take place on a planet where the native sentient population could not perceive the color red.  Unlike other forms of color blindness, if an item was red it was as if it simply did not exist.  As far as the natives would be concerned, there simply would not be a red wire at all.  The planet was also home to a variety of fliers that would attack anything was unfortunate enough to be any shade of yellow.

 

2:03 Yellow was out.  It wouldn’t do for the enemy to deploy explosives that could be triggered by an angry flying frog.  That left red or brown.

 

CT-18-5037 hesitated for a moment then moved the wire cutters away from the brown wire to the red wire instead.  If the locals couldn’t perceive the color red, then it stood to reason that the enemy would make the trigger wire red to ensure the bomb couldn’t be disarmed.

 

It had to be that one.  2:00 left on the clock.  One more survey of the casing, a quick double check of the wires, ensuring that she knew exactly where they led.  A deep breath, and then the she snapped blunted blade of the wire cutters around the red wire, cleanly bisecting it. 

 

CT-18-5037 breathed out in relief - only for a shrill beeping and a loud pop echo through the small room.  A plume of purple dust erupted from the device, liberally covering the front of her armor.  She sighed in frustration.  Something had gone wrong.  She had failed,  now she had to deal with the consequences.  It was going to be hell to get this osik out of the plastoid. 

 

The training sergeant spoke from behind her.  “As you all can see, CT-18-5037 failed to successfully disarm the device.  Would anyone care to try to see if they can spot the error CT-18-5037 made?”  His tone made it clear that this was not a request and CT-18-5037 stood, braced to take whatever virtrol the trainer would spew at her about her performance today.

 

* * *

 

 

“I don’t understand why you’re still here.”  CT-18-5037 looked up from the armor she was attempting to clean.  If she was not quick enough then it would stain creating yet another difference between her and the rest of her vode.  One of the newer members of the squad was addressing her.  CT-16-0634 formerly of Neon Squad if she wasn’t mistaken.  “You know they’re never going to let you off planet to fight.  They think you’re defective.”

 

CT-18-5037 shrugged in response, suddenly very tired as she returned to the armor before her.  She didn’t start cleaning again either.  Instead, she sat there, armor in her lap, very aware of CT-16-0634 standing above her. He was clearly intent on getting some sort of response. 

 

She had no idea what CT-16-0634 expected her to say.  She wasn’t one for talking much to begin with, unless there was no other option.  Besides, it was an open secret that she would never leave Kamino, even when war came.  She had been the only one of her batch to pass into basic training, so the longnecks had allowed her to live as they attempted to figure out what had gone wrong in the cloning process that had caused her batch’s particular mutation.  

 

As such, she was in the lab more often than not while the longnecks poked, prodded, collected samples and observed her behavior.  She suspected that she had only been allowed to continue training because one of the psychologists had assessed that it would be more detrimental to her health and their attempts to figure out what had gone wrong, had she nothing to do. 

 

And even that allowance seemed to be coming to an end.  As of late, more and more of her assigned tasks had separated her from squad training and shifted towards maintenance work. Her most recent failure to disarm the ordnance would probably be just another tally mark in the column of why she wouldn't be allowed to serve.  Still, until they physically prevented her from doing so, she could and would keep up with the rest of her vode.  She had a duty to the Republic to be in the best shape that she could be.  Privately, she had her own reason for continuing on, although she wasn’t sure how to communicate that to the vod in front of her.  She wasn't sure that she wanted to, either.  It was private.  She owed it to her batch to prove that they were not all failures.  She owed it to them to see that the chance they had given her would  _ not _ be wasted.  How could she explain that to a vod who had just implied that that was what she was doing?

 

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” CT-16-0634 demanded, interrupting her thoughts. CT-18-5037 blinked up at him.  She frowned, struggling to come up with anything to say that would allow her to get rid of the tangled knot of words sitting in her throat.  Again she was interrupted, this time by the squad Sergeant who pressed her datapad into her hands and then whapped CT-16-0634 across the backside of the head.  She nodded her thanks to her sergeant who nodded back then turned to CT-16-0634.

 

“‘37 doesn’t speak much.  We do not force the issue.  And we do not make any vod talk about those who are marching far away if they do not wish too.  Am I understood?”

 

CT-16-0634 frowned, clearly not happy with that answer, but eventually he said “Yes Sergeant.”  CT-18-5037 rolled her eyes.  She appreciated the sergeant stepping in so that she wouldn’t have to speak, but CT-16-0634 was new to Powder Squad.  He would have learned on his own.  Eventually.

 

Still, the sergeant wasn’t done.  “Besides, ‘37 has managed to complete every one of the maintenance tasks assigned, the random health osik the longnecks keep demanding and keep up with the rest of us from the start, so you can keep your rude observations to yourself vod.  And it’s not like we all don’t know there’s nothing wrong with ‘37’s technique.”

 

“But they got the wrong wire!” CT-16-0634 protested

 

CT-18-5037 frowned as the sergeant threw up their hands in exasperation.  “And that doesn't seem fishy to you?  That the red wire is the wire that causes early detonation during a simulation on a planet where the native populace can't see red?!  No,” he continued “it’s pretty damn clear that someone is sabotaging stuff.  ‘37, your technique was exactly right.  You did good vod'ika.”

 

“But why wouldn't the detonation wire be red?” Xand questioned.

 

“Di'kut,” another brother, Chime, said, staying true to his namesake and chiming in. “Weren’t you listening? The natives can’t see anything red!

 

“No I heard.”  Xand said and CT-18-5037 didn’t have to look at her brother to know he was rolling his eyes “The natives are pacifists to the point of ridiculousness.  They’d have to get an offworlder to disarm the bomb and there’s no guarantee that the offworlder would have the same limitations.”

 

CT-18-5037 smiled softly at the debate that broke out over different tactics and likely lifeforms in that part of the galaxy.  The sergeant’s praise warmed her heart, and she pulled the next piece of armor into her lap.  Despite CT-16-0634’s disbelief in her abilities, she was staying as long as she could, especially since she had the rest of the squads support.  Still, if she wanted her squad to keep their faith in her, she needed to get this done before completing whatever new maintenance task had been set for her. 


	2. Acreddited Ambush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A deviation from the plan during a training simulation puts CT-21-0550 in yet another awkward position with her new squad when a trainer takes notice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: OC's, swearing, random Mando'a, canon typical violence, attempts to actually think about the implications of crappy things mentioned in canon, unethical science practices, military training, liberal mixing of fanon + canon + eu/legends
> 
> Thanks Ktwontwo for betaing this! I really really appreciate it!

“Trooper. CT-21-0550.” A voice called from the simulation command room just as CT-21-0550 crossed the threshold into the hallway behind the rest of her squad. CT-21-0550 froze. She knew that voice. It was one of the Trainers though she couldn’t tell which one. To be honest it didn’t matter. Experience had taught her that being singled out by number for anything was _bad_. 

Still, she had been addressed by name, or as much of one as she had. No response was not appropriate yet she could not move. She could feel the curiosity coming off of her squad as they continued to disarm themselves, while CT-19-1992 slowed his pace ever so slightly and took more space than necessary on the bench positioning himself just a fraction closer to her than the rest of the squad.

CT-21-0550 appreciated the support but it would not help. On a good day the presence of any Trainer was enough to have her folding in on herself. Being singled out as she just had been made it worse. Still, the analytical part of her mind remained as active as it always was. Why was there a Trainer present? They had not been scheduled for assessment today. It didn’t matter, she would find out soon enough, but not if she just stood there frozen in panic. She forced it down deep and turned, snapping to attention, “Yesir?” she asked while her mind continued to race. 

Her squad had performed admirably in the simulation. They had matched the second highest score on the simulation run and cleared the objective in less time than any of the previous teams. Granted that had been due to the fact that she and CT-19-1992 had snuck away from the rest of the squad to scout ahead and managed to set up an ambush on the droids. Was that considered deviant behavior? If it was, she hoped she could convince whoever was going to reprimand her that it was her idea and that CT-19-1992 had nothing to do with the plan. He didn’t deserve to be scrutinized just because the Kaminoans were overly fond of reminding her that she had to meet their exact standards because she was a glitch and as such always at risk for reeducation. 

The blood red braids were all she needed to identify Vhonte Tervho as the Mandalorian standing in front of her assessing her for… something. CT-21-0550 was keenly aware of the rest of her squad milling around behind her waiting for something to happen. The urge to fidget under all of the scrutiny was strong and she gave in. Just a quick double tap of her pinky against her thigh as she tried to recall everything that she could about about Tervho. There wasn’t much. None of the vode had ever spread any warnings about her the way they had about Walon Vau, Dred Priest or Isabet Reau. None of the vode she had ever talked to were ridiculously devoted to her the way some of the vode were about Kal Skirata or Cort Davin and the medics were about Mij Gilamar. All any of the vode knew about her was that she was somehow involved with the survival exercises. 

A small intake of breath and jerky movement out of the corner of her eye snapped CT-21-0550 out of her thoughts. She had missed something while lost in her own head. She had to have. There was no other explanation for the sudden tension and unease of her squad. She couldn’t turn to look, not with Tervho standing in front of her still searching for whatever. Focusing on her other senses she barely heard the muttered “They’re doing it again.”

“...the third time this week that they’ve mimicked....”

“Wish they'd act like themselves.” 

CT-21-0550 blinked not turning her attention from Tervho who was still carefully scrutinizing her even though she longed to turn around and ask what that was even supposed to mean. Who was doing what again? How had she not noticed whatever it was if this was the third time it had occurred? Who wasn’t acting like themselves? Why was that a problem? Her thoughts skidded to a stop as Tervho’s eyes caught hers and seemed to bore into her skull. She met them evenly as her thoughts abruptly switched tracks. What the hell was Tervho searching for?

The silence was broken by a quick quirk of a smile and CT-21-0550 almost frowned before she caught herself. She had missed something. Again. That was getting annoying. “Sir?” she asked.

“They’ll do.” Tervho said looking her dead in the eye even as she addressed the longneck behind her. “Congratulations CT-21-0550. You’ve been selected for Advanced Recon Force Trooper Training.”

The hall went dead silent. If she listened carefully CT-21-0550 thought she could actually hear the rain beating on the city dome. She blinked, once, twice, certain that she had misheard and that Tervho had been addressing another member of the squad. It would not have been the first time that something similar had happened. Quick furtive glances to the side disproved that thought. She had been singled out for this. Tervho had singled her out for advanced training. Only her. Thoughts raced through her brain, half-finished and incomplete. This was not making much sense. Tervho was in charge of the ARF training? That was more than just the survival exercises than than she had thought. Tervho wanted her in ARF training? Why her? There was no doubt in her mind that the rest of Bastion Squad was wondering much the same. Still, there was only one answer she could give. There was only one answer that would be acceptable. “Yes Sir.” She said.

Tervho nodded as if she hadn’t expected anything less. She probably hadn’t. It wasn’t like CT-21-0550 could refuse. She probably could if she really wanted to, but she hadn’t quite clicked with the rest of Bastion Squad. “Report to the armory and get yourself kitted out with your new equipment and report to the ARF barracks tonight. We start tomorrow morning.” There was a pause and CT-21-0550 struggled not to lose face as Tervho considered something else. “CT-19-1992” she finally said, no louder than she had initially addressed CT-21-0550 making it very obvious that she knew the rest of the squad had been eavesdropping.

“Yessir?” came the slightly guilt laden voice of CT-19-1922 from almost right behind her. CT-21-0550 felt more than saw her vod come stand next to her and snap to attention. “Those orders also apply to you.”

“Yessir. Thank you Sir.” Came the reply and CT-21-0550 could hardly breathe. She would not be alone as she was forced to join a completely new squad. Unlike the rest of Bastion Squad she and CT-19-1992 had clicked. Probably due to the fact that he had not been a part of Bastion Squad much longer than she had. Hopefully that would continue to be the case and they were assigned to the same squad come morning.

“Good.” Tervho said. “Now get going.”

“Yessir.” CT-21-0550 replied, matching CT-19-1922 as they had been trained. As one, the pair turned and rejoined their squad, former squad now, before heading to the showers. Everything was about to change and while her future was now more uncertain than it had been initially CT-21-0550 had never been prouder. For the first time she had been singled out due to something she had done as opposed to being recognized as a glitch. It felt good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Mando'a Translations as taken from[Mandoa.org](http://mandoa.org/) and Kaasknot **  
>  vod / vode: literally sibling/siblings, oft Brother because majority of the clones are male
> 
>  
> 
> **Disclaimer:** CT-21-0550, CT-19-1992, and Bastion Squad belong to me. The rest of the cast and verse do not belong to me. Im simply playing with the verse for my and your amusement.
> 
> **AN:** Hey Guys! Its been a bit hasnt it? Well fear not, for I am here once again bringing to you yet another female clone! Let me know what you think of her ey? Questions about my clones? Drop em in the comments or come talk to me on my [tumblr!](http://fromthedeskoftheminister.tumblr.com). [ Curious about female clones in general? ](http://fromthedeskoftheminister.tumblr.com/post/170261867917/kaminoans-are-awful-scientists-and-have)

**Author's Note:**

>  **Mando'a Translations as taken from[Mandoa.org](http://mandoa.org/) and Kaasknot **  
>  osik: Shit  
> vod / vode: literally sibling/siblings, oft Brother because majority of the clones are male  
> vod'ika: literally little sibling  
> Di'kut: Idiot - Literally someone who forgets to put their pants on
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** CT-18-5037, Chime, Xand, and CT-16-0634 belong to me. The rest of the cast and verse do not belong to me. Im simply playing with the verse for my and your amusement.
> 
>  **AN:** Hello all! Welcome to the story of Gremlin Squad, alternatively titled The Author asked herself a question and things got entirely out of hand. To be honest, I'm not sure what I'm doing in this fandom but I'm happy to be here and happy to contribute! I hope you like the story! If you did, leave me a comment below please! If you're not one for leaving comments or are too shy come talk to me on my [tumblr!](http://fromthedeskoftheminister.tumblr.com) [ Curious about female clones? ](http://fromthedeskoftheminister.tumblr.com/post/170261867917/kaminoans-are-awful-scientists-and-have)


End file.
